The DACA program also known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is a United States immigration policy that was created during the Obama administration. It allows a numerous amount of individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit in the U.S. The DACA program was suspended when the Trump Administration took office, but a federal judge is now ordering that they begin accepting new DACA applications.
The order came from Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York who stated that the administration must alert the public that they will begin accepting DACA applications again. As per the judge’s order, the notice must read that they are accepting first-time applicants for the consideration of deferred action under DACA, renewal requests, and advance parole requests, based on the original requirements of the program made before September 5th, 2017. The notice must also state that employment authorization documents will be valid for two years as opposed to the original one-year approval.
It is more than likely that the Trump administration with appeal the ruling, while Trump is still in office. His efforts into blocking this new order may be overturned once President-elect Joe Biden takes office this January, as Biden has pledged to restore the DACA program once his administration takes office.